Chimp & See Talk

Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing

  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    HI everyone

    We are very happy to announce the publication of our first PanAf paper: Chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing!

    http://www.nature.com/articles/srep22219 (open access!)

    We have already had some great stone throwing videos up on chimpandsee.org, you can check them out at the ‪#‎stonethrow‬ tag group (http://talk.chimpandsee.org/#/collections/CCPL0000oe)!

    We have a press release here: http://www.mpg.de/10328790/chimpanzee-stone-tree
    and in german here: http://www.mpg.de/10327526/schimpansen-werfen-steine

    lots of cool videos here that will be on chimp&see in the next year too: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep22219#supplementary-information

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    and a really nice post from Laura Kehoe who was one of the first to observe the behaviour: https://theconversation.com/mysterious-chimpanzee-behaviour-may-be-evidence-of-sacred-rituals-55512

    and here is @Akalan on German radio 😃 http://mephisto976.de/news/affen-die-mit-steinen-werfen-54457

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  • ksigler by ksigler moderator in response to MimiA's comment.

    Congratulations on getting published! This is incredibly fascinating, and I'm really looking forward to learning more about what you discover (and helping here, where we can).

    Watching the collection of strong throwing clips reminds me of how people go to an abandoned warehouse, or bridge, and throw rocks to blow off steam or think about things. Or some people shoot guns at bottles and tin cans. It's a cultural thing... you don't see it everywhere... but in the communities where it occurs, everyone knows THE place to go to do it, and it's almost like a rite of passage to begin going there. Very interesting. 😃 (on the off-chance that I just solved your mystery, you're welcome.)

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  • Snorticus by Snorticus

    Ha, ksigler you could be on to something there 😉 I liked watching the full clips of this behavior in the Laura Kehoe post. Especially liked seeing the entire unbroken minute of Dodge and also of Ralph doing the stone throw. I wonder why they seem to "deliberate" for some time before they do the "windup" for the throw? How great would it be to directly read their minds!

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    Thanks @ksigler - that's a great hypothesis 😄

    @snorticus - glad you liked the clips 😃

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  • Expressionist by Expressionist

    Is it not possible, that the chimps are checking up the possibility of wild bees or hornets that could come out of the trees?

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  • akalan by akalan scientist

    Hi all, the 'wind up' is a characteristic aspect of displays and especially the pant hoot vocalization that accompanies displays. It's what we call the 'Build up" and "introduction" phases of the pant hoot. This is also where you see the animals swaying and piloerect, and appears to serve as a 'warm up' of the body for the display that follows (the throw, or drumming and screaming), as well as serving as a signal to nearby individuals to 'get outta the way'. Sometimes chimps will not even complete a whole pant hoot and will just stop at the introduction phase because another individual comes and starts grooming them, essentially 'calming' him or her down.
    Hope that helps clarify a bit that this 'wind up' is not unique to the accumulative stone throwing behaviour but rather a characteristic chimpanzee display behaviour.

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  • Snorticus by Snorticus

    Thanks for that clarification, @akalan - such complex animals.

    There was a post about your discovery in my newsfeed this morning, pretty cool @MimiA

    http://www.newser.com/story/221385/chimps-are-inexplicably-hurling-rocks-at-trees.html

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator in response to Expressionist's comment.

    Hi @Expressionist - we checked all the trees and we never observed any bees or hornets nests at any of the sites.

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator in response to Snorticus's comment.

    Very cool @snorticus (sorry! I just saw this now!)

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